CommentaryJules Chéret is seen as the father of modern posters. Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, this trained lithographer perfected this print technique step by step. He not only succeeded in enlarging the print format but was also the first prominent designer of this new technique. It was his posters that gave viewers their fist visual impression of the nascent ›new age‹. Their effectiveness was not only enormous among the general public. Artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Latrec and Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen also took to the new medium and transformed poster’s special visual language into a new art genre. The fame of his successors superseded Chéret’s pioneering work.

Chéret generally used well-built, easy-going women in his products for his clients. His female figures – soon called »Chéretten« – attracted a lot of attention and perhaps it was they who spread the reputation of Parisian women as allegedly easy-going beauties.

Jules Chéret is seen as the father of modern posters. Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, this trained lithographer perfected this print technique step by step. He not only succeeded in enlarging the print format but was also the first prominent designer of this new technique. It was his posters that gave viewers their fist visual impression of the nascent ›new age‹. Their effectiveness was not only enormous among the general public. Artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Latrec and Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen also took to the new medium and transformed poster’s special visual language into a new art genre. The fame of his successors superseded Chéret’s pioneering work.

Chéret generally used well-built, easy-going women in his products for his clients. His female figures – soon called »Chéretten« – attracted a lot of attention and perhaps it was they who spread the reputation of Parisian women as allegedly easy-going beauties.